12/27/10 Long Lake (northern Hamilton Co.)
Ten Common Redpolls arrived at our feeders this morning. Late December-early January is the typical arrival time during irruptive years in Long Lake. (During our winters in Potsdam, in the St. Lawrence Valley, the arrival dates were earlier.) Evening Grosbeaks have been visiting our feeders for the past two months. This morning, the flock had over 60 birds, and I've counted more than 80 on some mornings. They stay throughout the morning hours and disappear by afternoon. Their time is spent eating seed on our front porch, preening, roosting, eating tree buds (mostly in cherry trees, which Ruffed Grouse also seem to prefer), and eating mouthfuls of snow. Just a note on feeders: I have 14 feeders up so far this year, and this is the first time I've added a sock feeder to the mix. I have a 20-perch thistle tube feeder next to the sock feeder and the Common Redpolls definitely prefer the tube feeder over the sock feeder. So I won't be investing in any more sock feeders! 12/26/10 Long Lake - Kickerville Rd. I took a drive on Kickerville Rd. midday yesterday to a couple feeder locations I visit every year. I found a Common Redpoll flock at one of the houses - between 15 and 20 birds. 12/19/10 Newcomb & Elizabethtown (Essex Co.) As I was driving through Newcomb on my way to the Elizabethtown CBC, I found over 30 Evening Grosbeaks at a feeder location next to the Hudson River (I've been observing Evening Grosbeaks at this location for several weeks). Fuat Latif and I covered the east side of Hurricane Mountain for the Elizabethtown CBC (by car, and then on skis where the plowing stops). Highlights included 1 Pine Grosbeak, 3 White-winged Crossbills, and at least one Evening Grosbeak vocalizing. We find Pine Grosbeaks on this road every year. This year, the Pine Grosbeak was perched at the top of a large conifer tree, but often, we find them in the "Tamarack" trees where the snow-plowing ends. The trees are huge and appear to be a different species than the tamarack trees found in fens and other areas of the Adirondacks. The trees on Hurricane Mountain Rd. have much larger cones also. 12/16/10 Long Lake - Newcomb At 9:30 a.m., I found a Barred Owl by the side of Route 28N in Long Lake on a drive toward Newcomb. I also found a Barred Owl perched on a wire at the side of Route 28 in Indian Lake on 12/11/10 at 10:30 a.m. I've had many reports from people seeing Barred Owls perched along roads during the day (or flying in front of cars). It appears it may be another bad year for this species with little food in the forest. I also found a female Black-backed Woodpecker foraging along Tahawus Road not far from the intersection with the Blue Ridge Rd. in Newcomb. Happy Holidays! Joan Collins Long Lake, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
